Hosting five teams from around the state, the Powell High School girls’ swim and dive team finished fourth in the Gene Dozah Invitational on Saturday, as new swimmers continued to grow in the early season.

“They’re getting more confident, more familiar with how things work,” coach Bailey Jackson said. “We didn’t have any disqualifications this week. They’re quickly learning what to do and how to do it at meets. I’m happy with their improvement.”

Leading the way in placements were Lynea Christensen and Autumn Kleinfeldt, as Christensen placed third in the 200 freestyle in 2 minutes, 15.9 seconds, and Kleinfeldt took third in diving with a score of 170.5.

Christensen also added a fourth place finish in diving with a 145.6.

In addition to those two competitors, the Panthers added several top 10 finishes, as Tempie Day took seventh in the 500 free (7:00.07); Sophie Erkkila was seventh in the 100 breaststroke; Claire Hultgren was eighth in the 500 free (7:15.83) and 10th in the 200 free (2:45.84); Meredyth Giltner took ninth in the 100 breast (1:32.75) and Lilly Pittman was 10th in the 100 breast (1:32.9).

Powell finished with 135 points, just one point ahead of Worland in fifth. Riverton ran away with the team title with 417 points, Buffalo was second with 271, Cody took third with 162 and Newcastle was sixth with 79 points.

“It’s always great to see a variety of teams. It keeps things fresh and gives us a glimpse of what we can see at state,” Jackson said.

She added that with the Panthers in a new conference this year, they will be squaring off against a number of top teams in western Wyoming including Sublette County, Kemmerer, Lander and Lyman.

“While it’s always great to see the usual crowd, we are looking forward to swimming against our new conference more,” she said.

Heading back on the road this weekend the Panthers make a  trip south, heading to Worland for an invitational at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Going into this event, Jackson said there is one main thing the team is focusing on in the water.

“We’re going to be working on cleaning up our races, specifically turns I think,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how fast you swim, if you take four seconds at the wall. I hope our work and those skills transfer over to race day.”

GENE DOZAH INVITATIONAL

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Riverton 417, 2. Buffalo 271, 3. Cody 162, 4. Powell 135, 5. Worland 134, 6. Newcastle 79

200 medley relay — 6. April Weckler, Lilly Pittman, Lynea Christensen and Claire Hultgren 2:24.31

200 free — 3. Lynea Christensen 2:15.9*, 10. Claire Hultgren 2:45.84, 12. Autumn Weckler 3:08.78

50 free — 20. April Weckler 33.91, 25. Sophie Erkkila 36.95, 29. Lily Paisley 46.69

1-meter diving (six dives) — 3. Autumn Kleinfeldt 170.5*, 4. Lynea Christensen 145.6

100 free — 14. Lilly Pittman 1:10.94, 15. Tempie Day 1:11.69, 22. Autumn Weckler 1:21.36, 23. Meredyth Giltner 1:22.98, 26. Michelle Hedges 1:37.2

500 free — 7. Tempie Day 7:00.07, 8. Claire Hultgren 7:15.83

200 free relay — 7. Lilly Pittman, Tempie Day, Claire Hultgren and Lynea Christensen 2:08.7; 11. Michelle Hedges, Sophie Erkkila, Autumn Kleinfeldt and Autumn Weckler 2:26.57

100 back — 12. April Weckler 1:26.38, 17. Michelle Hedges 1:46.26, 18. Lily Paisley 1:48.93

100 breast — 7. Sophie Erkkila 1:31.14, 9. Meredyth Giltner 1:32.75, 10 Lilly Pittman 1:32.9

400 free relay — 9. Tempie Day, Meredyth Giltner, April Weckler and Autumn Weckler 5:28.39